China auto sales sink

Automobile sales in China plummeted 11.6% in September to 2.39M units and drop was the largest in China since 2011 and marks the third straight month of declines amid trade issues. The three-month downturn in auto sales in China is a negative factor for global automakers as well as domestic producers due to their heavy investments in China on the expectation of a solidly growing market.

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Automobile sales in China plummeted 11.6% in September to 2.39M units and drop was the largest in China since 2011 and marks the third straight month of declines amid trade issues. The three-month downturn in auto sales in China is a negative factor for global automakers as well as domestic producers due to their heavy investments in China on the expectation of a solidly growing market.

But what is the data for EV? Surely for Tesla to be the headline the relevant news is EV sales in China

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Automobile sales in China plummeted 11.6% in September to 2.39M units and drop was the largest in China since 2011 and marks the third straight month of declines amid trade issues. The three-month downturn in auto sales in China is a negative factor for global automakers as well as domestic producers due to their heavy investments in China on the expectation of a solidly growing market.

I understand US Auto Makers are down 20% in China. Been hurt the most.

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Apparently there has been a tightening of credit in China. Probably more of a cause for slow sales than anything else. Credit availability has been the historical factor in US sales.

It was the need to establish a credit facility in-house that led to the US auto builders to set up their finance arms. You went to Ford, picked out your wheels, and Ford Credit had their applications right there for you to go fill out and sign. Approval was instant. Sign and drive, out the door you went with your new ride.

Ford in particular was famous for financing "ghosts," the buyers who had nothing on a credit report because they only paid cash. You could be a complete ghost and buy a car from Ford, I know because I have done it. GM's GMAC Credit hired staffers who actually insisted that their customers would have a "credit score"; those guys cost GM a ton of sales. What Ford understood was "brand affinity"; customers bought Ford, and then would continue to buy Ford. The other car builder that understood this was Honda (and that business model was followed by Toyota). If you wanted to be a successful mass marketer, then you needed to get the customer to buy your car at an early age, precisely when they have no "credit score." Ford understood that; it was why they did not go under during the Big Collapse in 2008. GM screwed it up, and their stockholders saw their share values go from $55/share to zero.